Laura Hill

THE Lib Dems lost more than half of their support in HARROGATE AND KNARESBOROUGH, after a landslide result saw the Conservatives hold the seat.

Conservative MP Andrew Jones secured a second term with a huge majority of 16,371 after the Lib Dems saw a huge drop off in support.

Conservatives held the Harrogate and Knaresborough seat with 52.76 per cent of the vote.

Lib Dem Helen Flynn managed to gather just 11,782 compared to the 23,266 Claire Kelley won for the party in 2010.

Mrs Flynn blamed the battle nationally for the loss after she took just 22 per cent of the vote, leaving her 30.07 per cent down on the Tories, compared to two per cent in 2010.

Mrs Flynn said Nick Clegg had to go after the party’s poor performance nationally.

She said: “It seems to have been an appalling night for the Lib Dems. We have been punished for being part of this coalition.”

“Nick Clegg can’t survive as leader of the party, I am sure Nick himself will know that. How can he stay? It is sad in some ways and in 20 to 30 years time Clegg’s contribution will be appreciated.”

Even Mr Jones admitted her was surprised by the landslide of votes.

He said: “I am absolutely delighted, but I am surprised. I did not see the landslide coming. I thought there would be a shift, but the scale of the shift has taken me by surprise.”

The MP for SELBY AND AINSTY for the next five years will be Conservative Nigel Adams, who holds the seat.

MP since 2010, Mr Adams is returned to Parliament for the constituency with 27,725 votes and a majority of 13,557.

His share of the vote increased by 2,163 from 25,562 in 2010, and his majority increased by 1,292.

He said: “It was a great honour to be elected five years ago, and it is an even greater honour to be re-elected this time with an increased majority and an increased share of the vote.

It wouldn’t surprise me at all if we had a Conservative majority parliament.

“I think for a lot of people the reality is dawning on them that the alternative to a Conservative government would be Labour propped up by a rampant SNP, and that is happening as we speak, so those fears are making people turn out in their numbers.”

A member of the Conservative Party since the age of 22, Mr Adams is a former director of a telecommunications business in Leeds.

He has served as Parliamentary Private Secretary to two Leaders of the House of Lords and the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.

Five years ago, 25,562 people voted for him out of an electorate of 76,592 voters, 71 per cent of whom turned out to vote.

The Labour share of the vote increased this year from 13,297 votes in 2010 to 14,168 this time, making it the party with the second highest number of votes for the second election in a row.

The UKIP share of the vote increased from 1,635 votes in 2010 to 7,389 this year.

The turnout percentage decreased, from 71.1 per cent in 2010 to 69.8 per cent, though the actual turnout figure increased from 51,728 to 53,117.

The 2010 election saw a swing of 9.7 per cent from Labour to the Conservatives as Labour lost 17.3 per cent of their vote.

Previously, the Labour Party won in 2005, 2001, and 1997 though the Conservatives won by 15 per cent in 1992.

SCARBOROUGH once waited 80 years for a Labour MP and still the party finds it an impossible nut to crack.

Conservative Robert Goodwill was returned for a third consecutive term by the seaside constituency with a reduced majority of 6,200.

On a night where nationally the Conservatives flourished the Transport minister held onto his in the face of stiff competition from Labour’s Ian McInnes.

The Liberal Democrats saw its share of the vote collapse from five years ago. Down to 2,159 from 11,093 in 2010. The party was beaten out by the Greens for fourth place, with Juliet Boddington coming home a distant last for the Alliance for Green Socialism.

Sam Cross followed the national trend by gaining a respectable result for UKIP.

The party, which finished fourth in the borough in 2010 with fewer than 1,500 votes, polled 8,162 this time around.

Robert Goodwill said he was delighted with the result locally and nationally.

He said: “The whole of the country should breath a sigh of relief.”

The count lasted well into the early hours after 47,925 votes were cast in the election, more than one fifth of votes were submitted by post.

The turnout of 65.19 per cent was a fraction of a percent up on five years ago.